practicum observation reflection -special education 
Reflecting on the lesson #1
This lesson is about teaching winter to students with severe special needs. We talk about winter all the time with our students, especially when it snows or is very windy or very cold outside.
I think winter is a common topic in our daily conversation, often used to break the ice with co-workers, classmates or even strangers. What’s more, it’s important to understand what weather reporters or other people are talking about when you need to decide what to wear. Therefore, I assumed that incorporating a winter lesson into a class for students with special needs is a good idea. Weather is an interesting topic to teach- I need to consider my students prior knowledge and their learning level, there are many simple, engaging and effective ways in which I can teach my special education students about the weather. A student misconception is the students will think snow comes from the clouds sweating.
I designed this lesson to give a systemic introduction to winter. I focused on relating students’ prior experience and knowledge from daily lives with the story- a snowy day with new vocabulary. In the following group activity, students experienced the winter by using their senses (sight, hearing, smell and touch).
Tailored to severe needs students, the explanation of the why winter comes and goes will be touched upon briefly but the students will not be expected to fully understand this concept. The teacher will be more concerned with the students understand of how winter affect us.
One thing that I hope the students would get out of my lesson is: with prompting and support, make connections between a story or poem and one’s own experiences. Students can learn winter vocabulary (New words: Snowsuit, footprints, stick, plop, angel, slid, snowball, thought, melted), and to know about a weather-snow experience.
I feel the activity “make your footprints” was successful because all of the students were engaged and participating. Students enjoyed
This lesson is about teaching winter to students with severe special needs. We talk about winter all the time with our students, especially when it snows or is very windy or very cold outside.
I think winter is a common topic in our daily conversation, often used to break the ice with co-workers, classmates or even strangers. What’s more, it’s important to understand what weather reporters or other people are talking about when you need to decide what to wear. Therefore, I assumed that incorporating a winter lesson into a class for students with special needs is a good idea. Weather is an interesting topic to teach- I need to consider my students prior knowledge and their learning level, there are many simple, engaging and effective ways in which I can teach my special education students about the weather. A student misconception is the students will think snow comes from the clouds sweating.
I designed this lesson to give a systemic introduction to winter. I focused on relating students’ prior experience and knowledge from daily lives with the story- a snowy day with new vocabulary. In the following group activity, students experienced the winter by using their senses (sight, hearing, smell and touch).
Tailored to severe needs students, the explanation of the why winter comes and goes will be touched upon briefly but the students will not be expected to fully understand this concept. The teacher will be more concerned with the students understand of how winter affect us.
One thing that I hope the students would get out of my lesson is: with prompting and support, make connections between a story or poem and one’s own experiences. Students can learn winter vocabulary (New words: Snowsuit, footprints, stick, plop, angel, slid, snowball, thought, melted), and to know about a weather-snow experience.
I feel the activity “make your footprints” was successful because all of the students were engaged and participating. Students enjoyed